


No Strings Attached (ft. Yinu)

by Beepbeepbannoli



Category: No Straight Roads (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Orchestra, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Only if you squint - Freeform, fushigi ball, little shipping, was this an excuse for me to write a collab of the artists?, you bet it is
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:41:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28423371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beepbeepbannoli/pseuds/Beepbeepbannoli
Summary: When the elites of NSR find themselves at a halt with a newfound energy crisis they are forced to find a more creative solution that forces them to collaborate with each other. Will they come together in a glorious harmony or will they tear each other apart at their wits end?
Comments: 4
Kudos: 49





	1. Chapter 1

Vinyl City sprawled out before the duo who were riding the elevator up NSR Tower. The duo within the elevator, known as Bunkbed Junction shifted nervously about their feet (well only one of them really did). Mayday rocked back and forth on her feet, twisting her braids over in her hands as she tried to hide a nervous smile while the elevator only climbed higher and higher.

“May, you okay over there?” Zuke asked from beside her.

“Yes! I mean, who wouldn’t be? I’m just...wow.” She waved her hands about as she tried to articulate her words, “I’m really gonna meet Kul Fyra-again!”

A small smile fell on Zuke’s lips as he shook his head, “You’ve met her, like, three times already.”

“And I can guarantee you three times is not enough.” She shook her head, “And well, since we’re working under NSR now, I don’t wanna disappoint her.” Her hand subconsciously twitched for the new guitar that carried a new kind of weight upon her back.

“You’re gonna do great, I think if anyone can do a good job of beating up their idol, and then somehow landing a job under them and then…” He trailed off as he seemed to lose the words. Before he could articulate them to finish the elevator pinged above them and opened its doors. “You get what I mean,” He shrugged.

“Thanks buddy.”

Though the hallway they walked through was no longer to an impending doom of sorts the walk was still in no way leisurely. They were called there for official business of course, and it would be their first time in doing so as well.

Mayday reached for the door before her hand came to a stop just a few mere inches away, “Okay Okay, how should we enter?” She raised a brow at Zuke.

He tilted his head to the side, “Uh, through the door?”

“No no no! I mean, like, should we just burst in casually or I dunno all pompous and-”  
The door swung open before them to reveal DJ Subatomic Supernova who loomed over them.

He appeared to glare at them as his head leaned in their direction, “Oh, well if it isn’t the plutonians.”

“Heya DJ Nova!” Mayday cheerily waved.

He kept his gaze down on the phone in his hand, “It’s DJ Subatomic Supernova to you two.” He pushed past them leaving the door ajar.

“Well, that could have gone a lot worse." Mayday awkwardly smiled.

"To be fair, we did launch him into space when we first met him." Zuke reasoned.

"But we also helped him save the satellite from destroying NSR." Mayday retorted.

"Which was also a large group effort and destroyed his satellite in the process."

...so they still had some making up to do with the artists. Though they did lay low as intended they decided to soon take Tatiana up on her offer seeing as they were ready to be more known and help their city. Despite this they had little communication between the artists during the times of being indie. The only ones they were even remotely close with was team Sayu and 1010 (much to Zukes dismay) who had been the ones to reach out to them first.

Shuffling awkwardly into the meeting room trying to hide under the soft mingling the two found themselves safely seated between Team Sayu and 1010 who had spared brief glances at them.

“Hey guys,” Mayday waved to the teens beside them as she sat down, “Great concert the other day by the way-loved sayu’s new design Remi.” May offered her thumbs up.

“Congrats on the new single too.” Zuke added.

“Thanks-you wouldn’t believe how difficult it is to up the cute factor on a mermaid.” Remi groaned tiredly.

Tila draped a comforting hand on his shoulder before leaning over to Mayday and Zuke, “You should’ve seen it. Sobbing and saying ‘that’s too many hearts-too much pink-ohhh it's hopeless!’.” She imitated his cries.

“You try making the lovecore mermaid more...lovecore!” Remi added.

As Tila and Remi began to go back and forth Mayday and Zuke could only awkwardly look at Dodo and Sofa who wore tired expressions and could only shrug in exasperation. Luckily the room began to quiet down once Tatiana had assumed her place at the front of the table and everyone had taken their seats.

“Good afternoon everyone, I would like to thank you all for being able to attend today’s meeting especially considering-”

The words became a blur to Mayday as she practically buzzed with excitement in her seat. Staring intently she still somehow couldn’t believe how she had even gotten here in the first place. 

“May.” Zuke whispered to her with a nudge. She snapped back in reality just in time to see Tatiana gesture to her and Zuke as she spoke, “First off, I’d like for you all to give a warm welcome to the newest NSR sub artists. I should hope you all give a warm welcome to Bunkbed Junction.”

A gentle applause broke out as the artists clapped and gave them small words of congratulation-save for a certain diva who only clapped along begrudgingly. The band stood meekly and nodded and said quiet ‘thank you’s to everyone before resuming  
their seats for the meeting.

“Continuing with my previous point as well as the reason I’ve called you here today is the evident reappearance of blackout among the city.”

A thick cloud of dread lightly settled over the artists. They have been keeping up with their performances, keeping their districts up to date and have made significant improvements to their qwasa system! Yet it still somehow wasn’t enough.

Tatiana continued, “I am by no means doubting any of your skill or abilities to upkeep this. You are all part of NSR for a reason. It simply appears as though there seems to be a higher demand for energy.”

“Can’t we just sign on more artists?” Mayday asked innocently, “I mean, wouldn’t more artists just mean more energy available?”

“I’m afraid it isn’t that easy soldier.” Neon J spoke up from his seat as he crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat, “Signing on more artists would come at the cost of resources for us. Despite us being energy providers we already use an exponential amount of energy as is. It would be frankly useless to bring more.” He concluded with a wave of his hand.

Mayday slumped down in her seat with a little hum of disappointment.

“Just as Neon J has said, the results would barely begin to compensate newer artists unless we have overpassed our required amount. Perhaps then we could consider such an idea mayday.” Tatiana nodded at her.

The small call of her name made Mayday practically explode in excitement. She still couldn’t get over casually interacting and working with her idol-er, previous idol? Nonetheless, Mayday was feeling much more content with this answer.

“Excuse me, Miss Tatiana?” Remi raised his hand. She nodded for him to continue, “Thank you, yes, we were talking on our off time,” he gestured to team Sayu, “and we believe we have an idea as to storing unused power reserves.” 

Tatiana raised a brow as she stepped back and allowed Team Sayu to move to the head of the table. Remi handed his tablet off to Sofa who briefly typed before laying the device flat on the table. With a few flickers a projection of Sayu had appeared with her signature ‘pyun!’ and swam around, “And what can I do for my fellow artists on this lovely day?” She sang.

“Sayu, show them project NSA.” Tila instructed her.

“You got it boss, ehek!” Sayu gave a small smile before swimming around to dive into the tablet. She returned shortly after, this time with a literal file in hand and a small pair of glasses. “Ahem.” She straightened herself in a mock professional manner and opened up the file which displayed a whiteboard beside her, “This is project NSA. No strings attached.” Reaching up she flipped the board from the title to many elaborate scribbles. Swimming in front of it, she widened her arms which enlarged the hologram to expand across the entire table for all to see, “If you look here, this is the prototype for what we believe may be a viable solution to our energy crisis.” She pulled out a stick from thin air and pointed it as she swam along the scribbled lines, “Now my lovely creators aren’t really the engineering type so you’ll have to excuse any errors, ehek! This is our first model of NSA, what it does is that it stores any surplus power leftover from performances of ours and keeps it sustainable and ready to use in here.”

“So...its a generator?” Zuke raised a brow.

“No silly! That’s already been invented.” Sayu swam over and tapped him lightly on the head which sent an embarrassed flush across zuke’s face.

“What this does is gather all of our energy! Unlike a generator this can store energy up to years old and most importantly our energy specifically. As artists, we’re the main source meaning we produce much stronger and efficient energy.”

“Interesting.” The DJ mused aloud as he leaned forward and rested his hands on his chin,  
“And how exactly do you plan on doing such a thing? As you said before, your creators aren’t engineers and it would be pitiful to get our hopes up for a fruitless thing.”

“C’mon Nova, have some faith.” Mayday scoffed.

“Refer to me as by my proper title plutonian.” He chided, “And I don’t recall faith being able to build an answer to our energy crisis.”

Mayday rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, “And I don’t recall you building a better satelite.” She muttered a bit too loudly as she slouched back and across her chair.

Sayu let out a small gasp while Zuke elbowed his partner, “May!” he hissed.

“What?” She feigned innocence.

Bam!

The guitarist startled out of her seat and snapped straight as Subatomic stood tall and towered over his seat.

“Subatomic...” Tatiana began in a cautionary tone.

“Oh no, do excuse me.” He moved away from his seat, the galaxy of his face swirling to a deep shade of red red, “Since faith can do so many things why should you require the assistance of, I, DJ Subatomic Supernova, former astrophysicist and likely closest thing to an engineer to aid you in such a thing?” He turned on his heel and made his way to the door, “Do carry on, I should love to see how faith puts it together.” The doors slammed shut behind him. 

The room fell still as everyone shifted uncomfortably in their seats. Neon J pulled awkwardly at the collar of his turtleneck as Eve inhaled deeply before folding her hands.  
“Neon…” 

“I'm on it.” Neon didn’t allow her the option to finish before he was out of his seat hurriedly out of the room. 1010 let out low whoops and sneers once their commander had gone away, already beginning to quietly gossip among themselves.

Tatiana cleared her throat and drew everyone's attention back, “You’ll have to excuse him. Some of us still appear to be holding onto past ailments.” Everyone solemnly nodded and hummed in agreement before Sayu decided it was time to continue.

“Soooo what didja think Miss Tatiana?” Sayu asked with a wide grin.

“Your work is greatly appreciated, Sayu, to you four as well. You did not have to do such a thing and yet you did anyway. If you would be so kind as to share this with me I think we could find something to work with.” Tatiana affirmed her and her team. With a small peace sign and signature motto, Sayu dove away into the tablet.

“The only thing left to take into account would be finding an energy amount immense enough to fill these generators.” Tatiana pondered aloud.

“Why don’t we just let others perform at it, like the grand qwasa?” Rin proposed as he propped his feet up on the table.

Purl hew groaned and shoved his feet down, “It's gotta be energy from us dingus.”

“Can’t we just fill it with each concert done by us then?” Zuke proposed.

“That energy mainly goes to the city. Surplus energy isn’t easy to produce anymore with the demand we have.” Eve explained, “I don’t remember energy being in such high demand like this either.”

“Why don’t we work together then?” Yinu asked from her place on the table with the messy drawings beneath her grasp, “If we all work together with one giant performance we can make much more power, right?” Everyone stopped to stare at the child as she grabbed another stray crayon to color in a blue blotchy sky.

“A collab doesn’t sound so bad, we used to do em all the time when we were much smaller.” May said aloud.

Zuke chuckled at this, “Yeah, I recall you signing us onto a bunch and not telling me.”

She leaned over to him and pouted, “But didn’t you have so much fun?”

A small smile came over his face as he playfully pushed away his bandmates face, “Yes, they were incredibly entertaining.”

“Who shall we be collaborating with first then? Our genres aren’t the most...versatile to say the least.” Yinu’s mother reminded them.

“I got it!!” Yinu leapt onto her seat and held up her crayon drawing. On the paper showed what appeared to be a stage along with piano and many scribbles beneath that seemed to vaguely be scribbles of the artists. “Papa always loved to put on orchestras for everyone in Natura.” She brought the paper down and gently ran her hand over it, “I’ve always wanted to do one.”

“Yinu dear, an orchestra is a lovely idea but lets see what everyone else has to say, okay?” Her mother assured her. Looking back up she shrugged and gave Tatiana a sheepish smile.

“Well, my performing days are long behind me so it would be a vote on my artists of course. Who is in favor of collaborating on such a project?”

All eyes scattered the room at the unwavering artists. 

With much shock from the surrounding artists the rock duo raised their hand first in support, “Whatever it is, count us in!” Mayday grinned.

“I'll finally get some use out of that masters degree.” Zuke agreed.

Just after Team Sayu raised hands in support.

All that remained were Eve and 1010 who was whispering feverishly among themselves. “Don't wait on me.” Eve crossed her legs and nodded to the group of boys beside her, “They’ve already decided they want to, they just can’t decide what instruments to learn.”

“Hey, no fair, we were gonna say that ourselves.” Eloni whined.

“Your ‘whispering’ says otherwise..” She quipped back.

“And what have you decided Eve?” Tatiana gestured at her.

She nodded in agreement, “I should like to partake in any way I can. Being able to explore another genre would be an opening experience as well.”

Tatiana turned back to Yinu’s mother, “Miss Lilan, are you okay with handling the preparations for such an event if it turns out NSA is a success.” 

Miss Lilan’s gaze was soft and caring as she laid a hand upon Yinu’s hair, “If it’s what my dear Yinu thinks is best then I shall see it through with no problems.”

“Thank you Lilan, your efforts are much appreciated. 1010, any word on your commander?”The boys split apart from their huddle as they went quiet behind Rin, “I dunno, he turns off our communications during meetings.”

“He’s no fun anymore.” Haym sighed from beside Rin.

“Well maybe he wouldn’t have turned it off if someone wasn’t using it to pester us all during meetings.” Purl-hew added cooly.

Haym gasped dramatically, “Well it’s not my fault you can’t contain your laughter!”

“J and Nova have been gone for some pretty long, shouldn’t we go find them?” Eloni tried to meekly bring up.

“Eugh they’re probably canoodling or...” Zimuelu’s gaze fell on Yinu and the sharp glare of Miss Lilan.

“What’s canoodling?” Yinu asked innocently.

Haym elbowed Zimelu in the side, “Way to go dingus.”

“Dingus!” Yinu repeated enthusiastically.

Mayday tried to stifle the laughter that was threatening to break free from her while Zuke’s face paled at the interaction before him.

“Rin.” Tatiana’s stern voice sent a chill through the room. Her eyes met with the white haired member who’s mouth hung slightly ajar at the command of his name.

“R-right! Attention!” He called. Haym and Zimelu who had begun to claw and tug at each other snapped to attention alongside their other brothers who spared them a tired look.

“So when will we be having this concert?” Zuke asked once silence fell over the room.

“I should leave details up to Miss Lilan. Seeing as this would mainly be dealing with matters of her district. I will reach out to all of you however once we can get NSA off the floor and working. I may need some to test it out as well so I will likely reach out to you two for that.”

“Can do Tatiana!” Mayday assured her, “So uh, what are we gonna be doing in this collab?”

“Play orchestra!” Yinu jumped and pointed at her, “You got to play “boring” classical now!” she taunted her.

All the fire within Mayday seemed to be snuffed out in that moment. Her smile fell from her face as eyes widened. “Oh!” She blinked in surprise, “Right...classical. Guess it really is my turn to do something boring, huh?” she sheepishly remarked.

“Now I get to talk big about music!” Yinu declared to her before seating herself down with a triumphant smirk.

"Right then," Tatiana straightened herself, "I'd finally like to thank you all for attending and look forward to seeing how this pans out. Dismissed." 

At that the artists began to mingle among themselves of the proposal. Save for a particular guitarist who seemed to stare far off.

"Uh, May?" Zuke waved his hand in front of her, "Anyone home?"

"Zuke." She turned to him, "Did I just agree to play classical?"

"I recall you did, and that you said you were also down for anything to happen." He nodded.

Mayday facepalmed as she let out a low groan, "I'm gonna need a long drink at aunties to forget about what I just did."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The artists finally gather and gather what they need for the first day of preparations. Everyone seems to be in high spirits, save for a handful of unlikely few who can't seem to get over past ordeals.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry this wasn't updated sooner! School just started up again but from here on out updates shouldn't take no longer than 2-3 weeks. Kudos, comments, and thoughts are greatly appreciated!

_Small hands reached over to place themselves on the white keys in front of them. Shaking they pressed down on a note-unsure of which one to move onto next._

_“Yinu?” A voice called out._

_Yinu startled from the piano seat she sat in and stood straight, “Papa!” she watched with wide eyes as a figure emerged from the curtains._

_“Yinu dear, what are you doing here?” A gentle yet inquisitive voice asked as they stood straight. He stood tall and worked on making sure his hair was orderly and continued to pick at the wrinkles in his suit._

_The small girl stood small beside the graceful piano beside her on the stage, “I was just staring at the piano...and looking for you.”_

_A small chuckle came from the man as he leaned down and picked her up, “Were you now?” he sat down upon the bench and set her down beside him, “Or were you looking to play it?”_

_Yinu peered down and fiddled with the ribbon tied around her dress, “I like the way you play it.”_

_His hand ruffled at the mess of curls upon her head, “Then why don’t I teach you?”_

_“Really?!”_

_“Of course, here I can even give you your first tip.”_

_Yinu scooted herself closer into his side and stared up with wide eyes as she listened closely._

_Allowing himself to have a small laugh he let his fingers hover over the keys, “You usually want to keep your fingers curved. Though you should be careful not to over curve them too much.”_

_Yinu nodded feverishly before curling her fingers, “Fingers curved, got it.”_

_“That’s my girl.” He smiled._

_“Sir Lauren!” A custodian approached the stage, “One hour left sir!”_

_Lauren nodded before turning to Yinu, “Time always flies before concerts I swear.”_

_“I'll leave you alone and let you practice then papa.” Yinu muttered before moving to scoot off the bench._

_“Not so fast, you still have practice.”_

_“Practice?”_

_“You do want to learn, don’t you?”_

_Yinu gasped as a wide smile crossed her face, “Yes! Yes! Yeessss!”_

_Her father tried to calm her down as he waved his wands at her, “Alright now let’s…let’s…” he coughed into his hand and turned away, attempting to hide the way his face flushed red as he struggled to catch his breath._

_“Papa?” Yinu reached out, “Papa, what's wrong?”_

_His hand came up to halt her before she could touch him, “Just...just a cough Yinu.” he stood straight and took a deep breath, “Why don’t you go get your mother for me?”_

_Yinu could only nod as she slipped away and stopped briefly behind the curtain to listen to the violent coughing fit that returned to her father._

_She fiddled with the ribbon in her gloved hands and ran to go fetch her mother._

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

"Yinu dear lets go!" A flash of bright red appeared in the child's vision as she snapped out of her daze.

"I'm going!" She called back as she buckled her white shoes around her foot and ran for the door. Following close to her mother they strolled through the quaint streets of Natura.

Flowing water and a gentle breeze accompanied the ambience of those softly mingling on the streets. Yinu took great care to jump onto leaves littering the streets, liking the way they crunched beneath her feet.

"You seem full of energy today, are you excited for the concert?" Her mother asked.

"Mm-hmm! And I can't wait to see what everyone else can play." Yinu stopped in her tracks, "Do you think anyone else plays piano like me? A duet would be fun." She began to scheme.

"Lets slow down there a bit." They turned onto the street of the concert hall, "We finally got the okay from Tatiana so today is just an overview as well as seeing who can play what. After that, it shouldn't be too bad. Hopefully." She added on that last part with an awkward smile.

With that they made their way past the fountains in the square and down the cobblestone path to the concert hall. Letting go of her hand Yinu’s mother dug into her pockets and unlocked the doors to the building. Stepping in only the jingle of the keys and the slam of the doors behind them echoed through the hall. With a faint click the lights buzzed to life and cast a warm glow over the velvet and maroon of the hall and stage.

"Go ahead and warm up while I prepare everything, okay?"

"Yes mama." Yinu nodded before bouncing up the steps to her piano.

The familiarity of this routine brought comfort to Yinu as she did her usual warm-ups and sank into the warm welcoming of her piano. Her hands halted their playing.

You usually want to keep your fingers curved.

A voice echoed within her mind.

Taking a deep breath she leaned into her piano and began to play softly. Her fingers flittered over each note and pressed with purpose-wrapping herself in each melody as the song carried her away.

Creaking open her eyes as she continued to play her eyes strayed up. Watching the few roses embedded in her hair fully bloom and shed their petals before her.

Petals flittered about her and settled upon the wooden stage around her. Stopping her playing she slipped out of her seat and knelt down to a pile of petals. She cupped a few in her hands and watched as they curled in on themselves and faded to dust. She had always been able to produce such beauty but could never quite nail down how to keep it alive.

"Hellooooo?" A voice rang out through the hall startling Yinu from her seat.

"Mayday and zuke?!" Yinu called out as she feverishly kicked the petals away and under the piano.

"Uhh yeah! Can...can you hear us?" Zuke yelled in response.

"Yes! I!! Can!!!" Yinu screamed back.

"Okay!!!! Cool!!!" Mayday shouted back before they walked down the carpet to the stage.

Well, more like Mayday was the one walking as she dragged a tired Zuke behind her.

"Is Zuke okay?" Yinu asked as she sat herself on the edge of the stage, kicking her feet against the wood.

Mayday brought up her partner to her eye level and listened to him let out a tired groan, "He'll be fine." She set him down on a plush chair, "Tatiana called us late the other day to have us test out a prototype of NSA which was an entire concert set and some more for us."

"She said it would only be a few songs. Only a few." Zuke moaned in annoyance.

"Well how did it go?" The pianist asked.

"Ready to rock and roll!" Mayday affirmed with a thumbs up.

"Oh!" A voice exclaimed from behind the curtains before stepping out, "You two are quite early." Lilan remarked as she pulled on a cord to move a set of curtains out the way.

Mayday moved to jump onto the stage to help her, "Yeah, believe it or not it was actually zukes idea to be this early." She nodded in his direction.

"Oh dear, is he going to be okay?" Yinus mother peered over at him with a look of worry upon her face.

Mayday gave a firm yank on the cord and tied it with Lilans help, "Actually I have an idea. You have all the orchestra instruments right?"

"Mmm we should, Yinu, dear can you show her our instruments?" She asked.

"Okay," Yinu scurried from her seat and grabbed Maydays hand as she dragged her backstage, "I'm guessing you want something loud?"

A wide grin spread across maydays face, "Exactly."

Yinu giggled and let go of her hand. Walking over to a leathery drape covering various shapes she pulled it off to reveal a cornucopia of instruments. Stepping back she allowed Mayday to giddily approach as she had already begun scanning over them.

"Ohhh yes," she reached forward and pulled out a pair of cymbals, "This is perfect."

"Isn't this a little too mean?"

She tucked the instruments under arm, "When your roommate and bandmate is a drummer and knows how late you sleep in you… I'm simply giving him a taste of his own medicine is all." She reasoned, "also he's done this to me millions of times and I still need my payback."

With that they walked out side by side back to the stage and snuck through the auditorium seats. Giggling among themselves and hurriedly shushing each other Yinu covered her ears as Mayday readied herself and widened her arms with a cymbal on each hand. They collided with each other with a deafening crash that even had Mayday reeling back though hysterically laughing as she watched Zuke scramble out of his seat in surprise.

“Woah-what’s going...May…?” Zuke slowly removed his hands from his ears as he squinted at her, “What’s going on?”

“You okay buddy? Seem a little frazzled there.” Mayday giggled as she tucked the cymbals under her arm.

“What?!” Zuke shouted in her face, “I can’t hear you!”

Yinu fell onto the floor as she clutched her stomach in a laughing fit. Zuke raised a brow at her until he spied the cymbals under his partners arm.

“May…” he groaned, “I’m gonna kill you.”

“What was that?” Mayday yelled back trying to imitate his tone just before.

“I said-I’m gonna kill you!” he shouted over the still slight ringing in his ears.

The Duo jumped upon hearing a heavy sigh from behind them.

“I knew this was gonna happen but I didn’t think it would happen this early.” Eve muttered as she removed the sunglasses on her face and set down the coffee in her hand, “I take it you two have had a lovely morning.” She mused, pulling off any stray lint on her surprisingly simple attire. “That is assuming it would be fruitless seeing as you two have already begun to conjure your own sorts of mischief.”

“Eve!” Yinu exclaimed from her spot on the floor.

“Good morning Yinu, I hope we’re not getting into too much trouble now are we?” Eve ruffled Yinu’s hair.

The small pianist flashed a snide smile, “I have nothing to say to that.”

Eve giggled and allowed Yinu to drag her into an auditorium seat to babble about whatever nonsense she conjured as Mayday and Zuke finally settled down into seats behind them. As they busied themselves the hours went on and they were soon joined by Team Sayu, 1010, and finally DJ Subatomic who settled into a seat with a dull creak.

Once everyone had gathered into their seats Yinu left her spot that was her rambling to 1010 about the concert to join her mother’s side on the stage. “I would like to thank all of you for coming out here on behalf of NSR as well as Vinyl City. Today we will merely be briefing ourselves on what exactly we’ll be doing, what you can play, and anything else today.” Yinu’s mother announced.

The artists nodded in unison at this and settled themselves before she continued talking.  
“Before we move on to possibly assign, would anyone perhaps be able to demonstrate any skills they have with a certain instrument-non edm related?”

Eve raised her hand and set her drink down, “If I may, I believe I should mention that I have taken up the harp in the meantime I get when not doing art or district matters.”

“Oh!” Miss Lilan peaked up at this, “We have quite a few actually, so you’re in luck. How did that arise as well? If you don’t mind me inquiring.”

Eve looked away bashfully, “Well, I wanted to challenge myself to see just how many instruments I could play with my extra...appendages, if you will.”

Eloni let out a gasp of amusement and turned to her with stars in his eyes, “Does that mean you could be a one man band? How many instruments can you play at once? That’s so cool!”

Eve blinked at him in surprise, “You know I’m actually not quite sure. Perhaps three? Maybe more? I assume it would be quite a challenge, not as if my arms have a mind of their own.”

Mayday shivered in her seat at those words seeing as they brought up a particularly unsavory memory of fuschia limbs attacking her and jutting out at all sorts of grotesque angles and-

“Mayday and Zuke, got anything?” The voice of Lilan practically made her jump out of her seat.

“Well, I’d say I’m pretty well expertised in anything percussion related you have.” Zuke explained.

Mayday awkwardly fidgeted in her seat as she fumbled for an answer, “Well...I can read music? I could play just about anything loud you got!” She forced out. An uncharacteristically awry smile on her face.

Mayday internally panicked as to whether or not they would believe her lie. A wave of relief washed over her as everyone simply nodded and said things such as ‘sounds about right’ or gave hums in agreement.

It was only when her gaze caught Yinu’s did she waver and feel as if she really couldn’t fool anyone. Just that moment was all it took for Yinu’s suspicions to spark about a certain guitarist.

They were snapped out of their trance as a certain cyborg marched past them, breaking their gaze with his abruptness. He placed himself behind Miss Lilan who seemed rather taken aback as he rested an instrument case on the stage.

“Truly, your effort is greatly appreciated but you did not have to go through all of this.” She tried to dismiss him.

“Nonsense-”he waved as he opened the case with a sound click”-if anything this really brought me back to my youthful days.”

Everyone exchanged glances with each other until he pulled out a sleek saxophone-screwing the curved mouthpiece on as he adjusted it in his grasp.

“Woah, someone’s full of surprises.” Mayday mused to Zuke.

“My question is how he’s gonna play it.” He quietly agreed with her.

Neon J pointed at him, “Good question soldier!” His voice boomed causing Zuke to jump in his seat.

He pushed a button on the side of his monitor which caused a small panel to flip open just below the screen of his sonar. The panel revealed a small USB port which he brought the mouthpiece into the port which allowed him to play as he demonstrated for everyone.

Sounds of amusement rippled through everyone as they became more attentive at this discovery.

“Woah what?! How is this possible? Have you been able to do this forever? Oh-do you take song requests?” Mayday jumped in her seat.

“One at a time please.” He tried to quell her. Instead he pointed to a certain group of individuals in the back. More specifically the programmer of team Sayu-Sofa.

“Me? Yes, okay, now....how are you able to play that?” He asked hesitantly.

J’s Sonar echoed through the hall as he eerily spaced off. He cleared his throat, “Next question.”

Mayday’s hand shot up which didn’t allow Neon J to avoid her enthusiastic noises and whispers of ‘pick me!’. Pointing to her she shot up in her seat and bound in front of him.

“Song request. Please!” She squealed.

Neon shook his head with a chuckle, “Well, with an enthusiasm like yours I would absolutely implore you to.”

Before Mayday could answer his hand flew up to hush her, “And no-I will not play careless whisper.”

“...”

“You don’t have any other songs to request do you.”

“...No.”

1010 snickered among themselves as a certain blue hued android groaned aloud.

“Fork it over purl.” Zimelu made a grabbing gesture with his hand.

“I hate you.” He replied sharply as he shoved a few green bills into Zimelu’s hand.

With that, Neon J packed his instrument and went back to his seat as Sayu and her team were up next. Sayu swam with a small smile on her face as she waved at everyone she passed by.

“And what is it you’re all capable of?” Lilan asked.

“We all have various experiences with pit instruments actually.” Remi spoke.

“Sofa and me can play marimba and xylo, actually.” Tila meekly mentioned.

“Yeah! Dodo and I meanwhile can play just about the other small things, we can cover all your bases.” Remi answered.

“And what about Sayu?” Lilan gestured to Sayu who swam beside them in hologram form above a portable projector.

"Of course I can play music silly, it's always been in my programming." Sayu smiled.

"Woah, so what can you play then?" Zuke raised a brow, leaning forward in his seat.

"I'm glad you asked." She pulled out a bubbly looking trumpet and furrowed her brow as a surprisingly jazzy tune began to play.

A hand came up to Supernovas orb, "The fish plays jazz." He sighed.

Team Sayu sheepishly turned away at the mention.

"We...still don't know who programmed her to do that." Tila shyly admitted.

"Really?" Remi raised a brow, "My moneys always been on Dodo." He pointed to the boy.

Dodo let out a gasp, "Who told you?!" He turned on his heel, "Sofa…" he began.

Sofa raised his hands in surprise, "D-don't look at me like it's my fault!"

"My question is why jazz of all genres." Rin raised a brow.

Miss Lilan stepped forward and raised a hand to gently stop Sayus playing, "That was truly some lovely playing there Sayu. Perhaps we can work on getting a brass duo or possible a whole piece of some sorts for the concert."

Sayu gave a small squeal and let out a loud ‘yay!’, letting her instrument poof into bubbles beside her. With that Sayu and her team resumed their seats as everyone’s attention was guided to a certain DJ.

“Nova!!” Yinu giddily announced in delight as she rested her chin in her hand, her elbows resting on the armrest beside him, “Play anything?” She inquired with wide eyes.

Subatomic seemed to make a gesture reminiscent of rolling one’s eyes. “Oh please, I wouldn’t busy myself with a genre I have absolutely no interest in-nor do I intend on doing so.”

“What?” Yinu whined, “You gotta do something, it's gonna be fun!”

“Yeah, might help to loosen up a bit. Explore another genre for a bit.” Zuke offered.

“Do not speak to me as if you understand my endeavors, plutonian.” He snapped.

Zuke raised his hands in defense, “Look man, all I’m saying is that we’re all in the same boat here. Might as well have some fun while we’re at it.”

At this Yinu let out a dramatic gasp before taking off with an affirmation of coming back soon. Before long she came tumbling out with an instrument in hand.

“Here you go Mr. Nova.” She beamed as she placed what appeared to be a triangle in his hands.

The instrument itself fit rather comically in his palms as he struggled to find a way to hold it with his much larger scaled hands. The galaxy in his orb swirled to a deep red. “This must be a joke.” He curtly said.

"Nova, it's a triangle." Neon deadpanned.

"It's an insult to my intellect!"

Mayday scoffed, "And here I was thinking it would be a compliment."

"Says the plutonian." DJ hissed.

"Says the fushigi ball!" Mayday yelled back.

Low whoops rippled through everyone as Zuke's face began to turn an even deeper shade of green as he struggled to hold in laughter from beside her. Even Yinu seemed to giggle at this.

"Fushigi ball." Purl-hew scoffed before bringing a hand up to his face to hide a chuckle.

"Thats a good one." Haym turned to Mayday.

They gave each other a high five. Before Nova could give them a piece of his mind Yinu tugged at his jacket.

“What’s wrong with a triangle?”

Nova shook before he straightened himself. He held up the instrument high and away from himself in gross curiosity, “Where to begin? First of all you’ll take notice of its shape. It has been given the most strongest form and for what? It’s tune is nothing short of a shrill tone that does absolutely nothing but grate the ears of those unfortunate to hear it. As for playing it, it simply imposes a burden on the miserable fool unlucky enough to play it. It’s mere presence alone is a nuisance upon whatever it accompanies as well. Tell me, have you truly ever heard someone say ‘ah yes, just what this piece is missing, its a triangle’ no, you never have, and never will.” He concluded smugly.

Neon J’s hands clasped together as he took what sounded to be a deep breath despite the lack of the ability. “Nova.” His hands pointed at him, “It’s a triangle.”

“Subatomic Supernova.” Miss Lilan spoke up from her spot on the stage, “We won’t be having any problems with this predicament, will we?” She asked with a soft and caring gaze though her tone alluded that she was reaching the end of her fuse.

He let out a huff, “I suppose if I must I shall comply.” He fell back into his seat.

“You’re gonna love it.” Yinu assured him with a small pat to his hand.

He hummed in amusement and raised the instrument to his face with the stick in his other hand. “Perhaps you might be right.” He gave the instrument a small clink that reverberated throughout the hall and bounced off the ears of everyone.

“What the-” Crack!

Yinu scrambled to take the triangle out of the DJ’s hands as he placed his hand over a sizable crack that formed on his face.

“Aw geez not again.” Zuke mumbled under his breath at the sight.

Subatomic simply said nothing as everyone else went rigid in their spots almost as if the slightest move might cause a full on eruption like at his hijacked concert. He gave a small nod and exited the concert hall with no words.

Eve simply let out a sigh and took a sip of her coffee, “It seems we’re off to a lovely start.”

Yinu’s mother seemed to share the same sentiment as she cleared her throat and redirected everyone’s attention back to her, “How about we all take a small break and then possibly getting ourselves situated with instruments as well as figuring out what songs we may be interested in playing.”

Everyone unanimously agreed and took the much appreciated break to stretch themselves out, taking to mingling among themselves.

“Well, certain casualties aside this whole concert thing seems pretty promising.” Zuke mused to Mayday as they paced together to lean upon the stage.

Mayday picked at the hem of her skirt, “It’s alright I guess. I’m still not too sure how to feel about this.”

"Hey," Zuke laid a comforting hand on her shoulder, "You got this."

Mayday's expression softened. She laid her hand on his, "We got this."

"Maydayyyy!!" A yellow blur fell onto the guitarist and hung onto her neck as she spun around.

Mayday fumbled with the blur that was Yinu till she held the small pianist out in front of her, “Yinu!” She exclaimed with a smile.

“Mayday!” Yinu said just as excitedly, “What are you gonna play?”

Mayday’s smile faltered for just a brief moment. And in that brief moment Yinu made it her utmost goal to find out why. That was until Mayday locked her in a tight lock and began to mess up her hair.

“Noooo!” She whined aloud, “You know I hate that! Zuke, help me!” she struggled in her grasp. Zuke simply exchanged a look with Mayday and joined her in playfully messing with Yinu.

She popped her small arms and squealed at Neon J who was passing by. Neon merely chuckled and held his arms out in front of Mayday who loosened her grip on her and handed her off to the cyborg who placed her atop his shoulders.

“Commander J’s got you, cadet.” He assured her.

“Let’s go backstage and look at instruments.” Yinu instructed him.

“Good idea cadet. I’ll find something for my boys to play too while we’re at it.” Neon walked with Mayday and Zuke in tow.

“Still haven’t gotten an idea for them yet?” Mayday asked as she held the curtain aside.

Neon’s sonar began to softly ping in the dim light of the backstage area, “I have a few ideas, though I must admit I’m not too familiar with orchestra. I’m much more experienced with marching band rather.”

Zuke struck his usual thinking pose and let out a small hum before a snap of his fingers, “I got it. How about a string quintet?”

“Strings...not something I considered actually. Good suggestion though, Yinu would you happen to have such instruments?” He asked the child atop his shoulders.

“Of course, let me show you.” She hopped off of his shoulders and tugged his hand along. They followed her to a section where all kinds of instruments lay dormant within cases. “The smaller ones are things like violas and violins while the bigger ones have Basses and Cellos.”

Neon nodded along as she continued to explain.

Zuke tapped his partner on their shoulder and nodded in the opposite direction, “Wanna help me get some marimbas and xylos set up?”

“Of course.” She followed him to a different area and scanned over the various ensemble instruments, “And you studied most of these instruments?”

Zuke shrugged, “More or less. Percussion was always my thing though, y’know?”

Mayday shook her head with a laugh, “I could never.” She placed her hands on one of the ends of the smaller marimbas and began to slowly roll it out onto the stage.

Slowing to put it into place her eyes fell onto the white piano that stood out on stage.

“What are you gonna play?”

Her fingers twitched with an itch to reach out and touch it. She curled her hands into a tight fist.

“Yo Zuke!” She turned to him once he had met up with her, “How do I play these things anyways.” She dug a mallet out of a bag and waved it about in her hand.

“It’s kinda like a piano in terms of size. And also the fact that you have to smack each note to play it too.” He explained.

Mayday's eyes widened, “Like this?” She raised the mallet above her head and was about to crash it down upon a note before a hand stopped her and slipped the mallet out of her hand.

“I’m revoking your mallet rights till I properly teach you to play.” Zuke punctuated by lightly tapping the mallet to her head.

Mayday let out a small huff and pouted lightly. She crossed her arms and allowed her glance to fall over the piano beside her once more.

This time a bright pair of bright magenta eyes stared back at her from their place on the bench. Yinu and Mayday held each other’s gaze, both wanting to say something but unsure of what.

Mayday turned away-pushing away the familiar itch she felt. She strolled over and laid her head on Zuke’s shoulder, peering down at the marimba he softly played, “Why don’t you get me ahead on those lessons, yeah?”

**Author's Note:**

> Waaaa this is my first fic in general and I do plan on expanding this into a series! Any and all comments are welcome and appreciated ^^


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